"Sometimes, even when you win, you lose, and sometimes, even when you lose, you win." - Riev Jobl, from Collected Wisdom of the Jedi Masters

Almost as soon as the Empire left, the Truwel Rebellion announced that they were throwing a party. They'd successfully beaten back the Empire, and now, it was time to celebrate their freedom. Sure, Truwel City had been burned to the ground, and there were more dead rebels and broken ships than they could count, but they'd won. They'd rise from the ashes like a phoenix, and someday, they'd overthrow the Empire for good.

Today was not that day.

Today, Patrick was at the cantina. Today, he was desperate to dull the pain, desperate to forget. Today, he was trying to treat the world better than it had treated him, but it wasn't working. He reached for another glass of wine with his new left hand and downed it immediately. The robotic hand was a perfect replacement for the one Darth Vader had severed, cold metal replacing the flesh and blood he'd lost, but there was still phantom pain running up and down his arm. No matter what he did, nothing could stop it.

That wasn't even his biggest problem. He should have been able to defeat Darth Vader. He'd trained for this. He was at the top of his class. His master had said that he was strong, sensible, compassionate, everything a Jedi should be. Yet, he'd failed. When it came down to it, he wasn't strong enough to fight a Sith Lord. Compared to Darth Vader, he was nothing.

Just as Patrick was about to order another drink, Joe walked into the cantina and sat next to him. "Hey Patrick," Joe said. "Are you doing okay?"

"I think so," Patrick lied.

"That's good to hear." He paused and then said, "I just don't know why everyone's celebrating when we've lost so much. Helena hasn't even had her funeral yet."

Patrick had barely known her, but his heart still broke whenever he heard about all of the rebels who had died in the fight. They'd given up their lives for the rebellion. The least he could do was honor their memory.

"I'm sorry, Joe," Patrick said.

"What are you talking about?" Joe said. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

"I'm sorry you lost so many of your friends, and I'm sorry I didn't defeat Darth Vader."

"Patrick, it's not that big of a deal."

"As long as Vader's alive, the Empire still has its leader. Our work's not done yet."

"Of course it's not, but Truwel's free. Isn't that something to celebrate?"

Patrick wasn't sure. There was still so much to do, so many other planets under the Empire's rule, so many other Jedi whose lives were in danger. It seemed wrong to celebrate when they were so far from success.

All of a sudden, the door opened, and Andy entered the cantina. Patrick smiled until he saw who was following him. It was the last person he wanted to see: Pete Wentz.

Joe greeted them as they sat next to them. "Do you two want anything to drink?" Patrick asked, attempting to be polite.

"Yeah, sure," Pete said.

"No, thanks," Andy said.

"He's a straight edge," Joe explained.

"You know, you all did an amazing job out there," Andy said. "I'm really impressed."

"Thank you," Joe and Patrick said, while Pete guzzled down his drink.

"That being said, I might put Mikey on the ground if this ever happens again. That kid clearly has no idea how to fly a Y-wing."

"Don't blame him. He was doing great. I was the one who crashed," Pete said. Andy raised an eyebrow, and Pete added, "Besides, he needs his own lightsaber first."

"You crashed?" Patrick said worriedly.

"It's not a big deal," Pete said.

"It's a big deal to me! What if something happened to you?"

"Mikey and I were both fine."

"You still could have been hurt."

Patrick hated to admit it, but he thought about Pete all the time. He worried about him constantly, and when he closed his eyes, he saw Pete's deep brown eyes, his tan skin, his intricate tattoos. He still felt his kiss on his lips. He didn't know if this meant he was too attached, if he was falling to the dark side. He tried to distance himself from the affection he felt, but it never really worked, because deep inside, he knew he still had feelings for his fellow Jedi.

"What about you?" Pete asked.

"What about me?"

"You fought Darth Vader, didn't you?" Patrick nodded. "That's amazing."

"Not really," Patrick said. "He almost killed me."

"But he didn't," Pete said. "And next time, you're going to beat him."

"I doubt it," Patrick grumbled.

"I don't doubt it at all," Pete said. "You've got to have more faith in yourself, Patrick, because you really are an amazing guy."

"You're just saying that."

"I swear I'm not," Pete said. "You're sweet and kind, and you look adorable in that hat I bought you..."

Patrick blushed. "You stole it, actually," he reminded Pete.

"Doesn't matter," Pete said. "Whether you defeat Darth Vader or not, you're perfect to me."

Somehow, Pete's words made Patrick feel a little better. He didn't have the words to say it, but he regretted all of those arguments they'd had before the Empire attacked. Pete could be a pain sometimes, but he had far more hits than misses. He'd been through so much, but he didn't get nearly enough attention, enough appreciation, enough love.

Pete would be the death of him, but it was how he wanted to go.

Outside the cantina, the rest of the Rebellion was busy celebrating. They were setting off fireworks and singing patriotic songs, but as Frank weaved his way through the crowd, he realized that the one person he wanted to see was missing. He should have been having a good time, but the party felt empty without Gerard.

Eventually, he spotted him. He was standing off to the side, sketchbook in hand. As Frank approached him, he looked up, his beautiful hazel eyes meeting Frank's.

"Hey Gerard," Frank said. "How come you're not partying with us?"

"It's not really my scene," Gerard explained.

"You did great out there though. You deserve to celebrate."

Gerard laughed. "It was all you, Frank," he said. "I just watched you shoot down all those TIE fighters."

"I couldn't have done it without you."

Gerard still didn't look like he believed Frank, but it was true. He wouldn't have gotten out of that battle unscathed if it wasn't for Gerard cheering him on.

"You know, sometimes I wonder about what could have been," Gerard said. "I could have overlooked that file in the Empire's computer system, and then where would we be?"

Frank thought about it and then said, "We probably never would have met."

"I'd probably still be working for the Empire."

"And we both would be fifty thousand credits poorer!"

They both laughed, and then Gerard said, "There's probably a parallel universe somewhere out there where you never told me that you stole the data pod. You would have gotten all one hundred thousand credits."

"There's probably a universe where I never stole the pod in the first place."

"There's probably a universe where you didn't give those diamonds away to Lando Calrissian."

"There's probably a universe where we're already dead."

"There's probably a universe where we fell in love."

Frank took a deep breath. This was his chance. If he didn't tell Gerard how he felt now, he might never get another opportunity. "That could happen in this universe," he said.

"Really?" Gerard said.

Frank nodded. "Listen Gerard, I liked you almost from the moment I met you," he said. "It just seemed like we were going in separate directions, and I was scared of getting too close, knowing that we would have to say goodbye. I'm not afraid anymore though. You see something in me that no one else does. You bring out the best in me, and I...I think you should know that. I think you should know that from the moment I saw you in that shipyard on Coruscant, all I wanted was you."

Gerard smiled. "I feel exactly the same way about you, Frank," he said.

Frank's heart felt like it was about to burst, knowing that Gerard liked him back. Maybe this would be nothing more than a summer fling, but he'd never know if he never tried. He stepped closer to Gerard and said, "So what do you think? Do you want to..."

"I've never wanted anything more," Gerard said.

As fireworks exploded in the distance, Frank and Gerard inched closer and closer. He could almost taste Gerard's lips on his, and he was just about to close the last bit of space between them. He closed his eyes, his hands in Gerard's bright red hair as he leaned in just a little bit closer.

All of a sudden, he heard Mikey shout, "Gerard!"

"What is it?" Gerard asked as he backed away from Frank.

"Do you know where Pete is?" Mikey said. "I need to talk to him."

"No idea," Gerard said. "Why? What's going on?"

"There's a disturbance in the Force."

"Come on, Mikey," Gerard said. "That's not worth interrupting us for."

"I'm sorry," Mikey said. "It seemed important."

Mikey walked away, heading back toward the party, but when Frank looked up at the sky, he saw ships coming, hundreds of them. He cursed under his breath as he watched a whole new battalion of TIE fighters fly toward the surface of Truwel.

"Frank, what's going on?" Gerard asked, but he soon realized exactly what was going on. The Empire was back.